Congressman Leandro L. Leviste of Batangas’ 1st District said that District Engineer Abelardo Calalo is a fall guy and he is convincing the latter to volunteer as state witness in the ongoing probe to the supposed anomalies of government projects in the Province of Batangas.
Leviste divulged that the money that the District Engineer attempted to bribe him is a contractor’s money and the beleaguered DPWH official only served as a cohort in the process.
“It is not the money of the district engineer, but of the contractor,” Leviste said without mentioning the name of the latter.
The neophyte solon who started the investigation into the supposed anomalies over the various infrastructure projects in his district divulged the details after filing bribery and graft cases against Calalo.
A total of P3.126 million in cash was delivered to the lawmaker, a known billionaire, in a bid to stop hin of probing government infrastructure projects in Batangas’ 1st district.
He said that the bag of cash that came with a receipt noting that it represents 3% of the P104 million worth for three contracts from a single contractor was just an initial payment.
Leviste added that another contractor was “ready to withdraw” P15 million in cash the following day if the lawmaker will so decide.
Without naming names, Leviste said he learned from Calalo about the biggest contractors in Batangas’ 1st District, as well as those projects being implemented by the DPWH regional office.
While Leviste did not mention the names of the alleged ‘big fish’ the congressman alluded to some other government officials who may have the hand in picking bigger projects which were identified by the ‘big fish’ with the full knowledge of the DPWH regional director.| – TheMetroTimes.ph
